


With the Devil On Your Side (Re-Upload)

by sarabrelle



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Resurrection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26656534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarabrelle/pseuds/sarabrelle
Summary: For over four years Klaus has been imprisoned in New Orleans by Marcel, Hayley has taken the other Mikaelsons and fled, searching for a way to save her family. Hundreds of miles away, the devil walks the earth in Mystic Falls. When Hell undergoes a change in leadership, everything changes.(Goes AU midway through TVD Season 8 and between 3 and 4 of The Originals)(I wrote this fic, then I orphaned it, and now I'm back writing it)
Relationships: Bonnie Bennett/Lorenzo "Enzo" St. John, Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Caroline Forbes/Stefan Salvatore, Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore
Comments: 18
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**February 2018**

Matt was talking to Jeremy, who’d been visiting Alaric, when his phone rang. “Bonnie?..... Ok, calm down…. I’ll meet you there.” The sheriff then turned to look at Jeremy. “Bonnie thinks Elena might be in trouble. Her…connection is leading her somewhere. She needs our help.”

“For Jo. That’s what he was gonna say.” Caroline said, looking down at a temporarily deceased Kai Parker. She turned to the other vampire. ”Thanks a lot Val.”

“I guess I kind of owed you one for the whole vervain-skin incident.” Valerie said to Caroline. The last Heretic had returned to town when Caroline called to inform her Stefan was having issues adjusting to being human once more.

The blonde was about to respond when her phone rang. “Bonnie? What’s wrong?..... I’ll be right there.” Caroline turned and looked at Alaric. “Damon and Stefan need an assist. You got the girls, right?”

Alaric nodded before Caroline and Valerie sped off.

Cade stared at Damon for a moment before speaking. The elder Salvatore had just promised Cade his soul in return for both Elena and Stefan’s survival. “Are you aware of what you’re offering me?”

“My soul. In eternal anguish. Twisted, black and delicious. Just like you like ‘em. So come on, eat me!”

“I’d like nothing more.” The devil said, before pulling off a chunk of wood off of Elena’s coffin. He tossed the bone dagger in his hand away and threw the piece of wood at Damon. “But it requires you being dead.”

“Oh, Damon. Please don’t do this.” Stefan groaned from the ground.

Damon picked up the stake and looked at his younger brother. “Sorry Stef. It’s been a hell of a ride.” Damon then focused on Cade. “Put my girl out first. Then promise me you’ll keep your grubby paws off her soul…permanently.”

Cade turned and the flames engulfing the coffin ceased. “Done. Your move, Damon.”

“Damon, don’t”

“See you in Hell, Cade.”

“No, Damon. “ Stefan shouted.

“Yes. Yes you will.” Cade said smiling at Damon knowingly.

Damon looked at Stefan one last time before plunging the stake he was holding into his heart. “No!” Stefan shouted. Damon grunted and fell to the floor as Cade smiled.

As soon as Cade left, Stefan crawled over to his brother’s body and pulled the stake out. Looking up, he saw the bone dagger, the one weapon that could kill Cade.

“There’s no point hiding Damon! You’re dead.” Cade yelled. “Your soul belongs to me. I’m psychic, remember? I know you can hear me.”

“Hiding ain't me style, Cade.” Damon said as he walked into the clearing. “Annoying you on the other hand- it’s right up my alley. So I guess this is where the tragic tale of Damon Salvatore ends.“

“Look on the bright side. Your suffering is just beginning.” Cade closed his eyes and the wind picked up and a loud rumble began. Damon grunted as his soul was pulled toward Cade. About halfway there, Damon stopped moving forward.

“Well that was anticlimactic. Are we taking an Uber instead?”

“We have a visitor. And her pain will be almost as sweet as yours.” Damon turned and saw Bonnie walking towards him. “Miss Bennett. You’re just in time.”

“Where are my friends?”

“Don’t worry. They’re safe, except for Damon. Damon’s very dead.”

“What?”

“Relax. You share my psychic gift, so if you’ll just open your mind.” Cade said and Bonnie closed her eyes and focused.

“You shouldn’t be here, Bon.” Damon said.

“Let him go.” She ordered Cade.

“And why should I do that? Damon sold his soul to me.”

“Like you said, we share a gift. And I won't let you take him without a fight.”

“I was hoping you’d say that, but I warn you: if you attempt to keep Damon’s soul on this plane, your mind will surely shatter.” Another gust of wind came and knocked Damon closer to Cade. The vampire grabbed a hold of the large rock near him.

“I…said…No!”

“Or maybe your body will give up first, leaving Elena Gilbert to wake up in a world without her lover or best friend.”

“Shut up.”

“For the last time! Release Damon, or risk losing more than him.” Cade said.

“He’s right Bon. You gotta let me go.” Damon told her.

“Not. Gonna. Happen.”

As Cade and Bonnie fought for Damon’s soul, Stefan exited the cave, and Caroline, Valerie, Matt and Jeremy came up to the clearing. The rumbling and wind got harsher.

“Please, let go Bon. Or I will.”

“Damon. Don’t you dare. Don’t.” Bonnie said as Damon prepared to let go of the rock he was clinging to. “Damon.”

Cade had almost pulled Damon towards him, when he felt something come up behind him. He turned and saw Stefan about to stab him with the bone dagger. With one hand, he pushed Stefan away from him, causing the younger man to drop the blade.

“Nice try, Stefan. “ Cade stated. “Nice, but ineffective. You weren’t a match for me as a vampire, why would a human you be any more of a threat?”

“Because, unlike then and unlike you, I have something to fight for.”

Cade began to focus solely on Stefan, deciding the others could wait until after he taught his ex-servant a lesson. Unbeknownst to Cade and Stefan, someone else had picked up the blade when Stefan dropped it.

“That doesn’t mat-“ Cade was cut off as the dagger was stabbed into his chest. He began to cough up blood.

“Bet you didn’t see that coming.” The person holding the knife said.

“Go…to Hell.”

“You first.” The person said, pushing the blade further into Cade’s chest. He grunted and then the dagger turned to ash and blew away. Cade then exploded into ash, knocking everyone backwards. Stefan crawled towards his friends.

“Guys. Caroline, Jeremy, wake up. Please. Bonnie, wake up.” He begged. Bonnie began to stir. “Hey.”

“Thanks for having my back.” She said. “For the record, this doesn’t mean I forgive you.”

“Consider it a first step. Because I’m not going to stop trying until you do.” Caroline and the others began to get their bearings as well.

“Am I late for the group hug?” Damon said, walking up miraculously alive.

“Damon, you okay?” Bonnie stood and asked.

“Yeah. That little psychic blast must have blown me back into my body.” Damon said before turning to the others. “And here I thought you all hated me.”

“Yeah well. With you dead and in Hell, things would have gotten boring. Plus, Elena would miss you.”

“Either way, please cherish this moment because I’m never going to say this again. Thank you. “

Hours later, things were calming down. Damon and Stefan had gone off to have a ‘bro moment’. Matt was catching up on paperwork. Jeremy was watching over the girls, who were exhausted and Alaric and Caroline were discussing finding a suitable school for Lizzie and Josie. Bonnie meanwhile, was dealing with the person she hated the most in the world.

Kai woke up and found himself chained to a chair with karaoke music playing. “No…no, not the Spin Doctors.” He sighed. “I’m back in Hell.”

“That’s impossible.” Bonnie said, stepping into the light. “Because Cade’s dead and Hell no longer exists.”

“Huh. So you guys really pulled it off. Hey, uh, let me loose and I’ll totally give you a high-five.” Bonnie chuckled. “Oh, are you here to punish me? Cause that’s kinda hot.”

“In a way. Thanks to Cade, I’ve honed my psychic abilities quite a bit. We both know that your worst fear is going back to a prison world.”

“You can't do that. Creating a prison world requires-“

“One of these, right?” Bonnie said holding up an ascendant. “Some Gemini magic, Josie and Lizzie are really making strides. I helped a little but, you gotta admit, this is impressive.”

Kai glared and looked around. “Where is everyone?”

“Oh, there is no one else. Just you and your insecure little mind. And a song you hate, on the jukebox forever. And there’s no eclipse to bail your ass out this time.”

Bonnie started to walk away and Kai began to panic. “No…wait Bonnie. Wait, wait, wait! Please.” Kai’s demeanor then changed. “I…I lost a bet. Oh I can’t believe you guys fell for it.” The siphoner then started laughing.

“Fell for what?”

Damon was closing Elena’s coffin when he heard the front door of the boarding house close. “You came. I put some champagne on ice.” He turned to see Bonnie, who didn’t look happy. “Bon, what’s wrong?”

“I just spoke to Kai. You didn’t destroy Hell.”

“What are you talking about?”

Bonnie sighed and sat down. “Hell has been around for a long, long time. Nature sees Hell as the opposite of finding peace, and there has to be a balance. Hell can’t be destroyed without destroying the resting place of those at peace.”

“So if Cade isn’t running Hell, then who is?”

“I have no idea.”

Bonnie and Damon’s worry was amplified when Alaric came running into the boardinghouse. He stopped when he saw Damon and Bonnie standing there. “Where is everyone?” he asked frantically.

“They went home. Why? what’s wrong Ric?”

“You need to get them here. Everyone who was at the quarry. I…. I found something important.”

Bonnie ran off to call Caroline and Matt, while Damon handled calling Jeremy and Stefan. Caroline promised her friend she’d call Valerie before the Heretic left town.

An hour later, seven extremely nervous people were sitting in the Salvatore living room. “Why are we here Ric?” Damon asked.

“We didn’t destroy Hell.”

“What do you mean?” Caroline asked.

“Hell can’t be destroyed, it’s too vital to the balance. All killing Cade did was change who runs Hell.”

“Yeah, Bonnie just told me.” Damon said. “But we don’t know who took over.”

“I figured.” Alaric said, sighing. “I finally finished reading every piece of information Georgie had on Hell.”

“And?”

“That’s why you seven are here. Of the seven of you, only six had physical bodies when Cade died, no offense Damon. Stefan was distracting Cade when he was stabbed, so Stefan is ruled out. Which leaves you five in the running.” Alaric said pointing to Caroline, Matt, Jeremy, Valerie and Bonnie.

“In the running for what?” Stefan asked.

“To run Hell. It’s a loophole of Nature. If you kill the devil, you become the devil.” Alaric said not looking at anyone. “Which one of you killed Cade?”

“It was me,” one of the five admitted. “I killed Cade.”

* * *

**Two months later**

In the underground section of the former Mikaelson compound, Klaus sat motionless. Unable to move or speak, the hybrid had spent four years in unending and unbearable agony. His pain-addled mind barely registered the two other beings in the room.

“Is the barrier spell reinforced?” Marcel asked Vincent.

“If it was, I would’ve told you.” Vincent said not looking up. “It’s not easy to contain something like him.” Vincent went back to muttering the spell before turning to Marcel. “There. Now, I’m done. If you’ll excuse me, I got witches to talk to.”

“Thanks man.” Marcel said without looking away from the imprisoned hybrid. The Upgraded Original walked over to his former sire and reached a hand into his chest. Taking a perverse pleasure in the groan Klaus let out, Marcel removed Papa Tunde’s blade.

Klaus let out a groan, his voice hoarse from lack of use. Marcel simply stared at the hybrid. Thirty seconds later, he spoke again. “How long?”

“Four years. Now, you get to sit down here and rot until I decide it's worth the energy to kill you.” Marcel turned and walked away, chaining the entrance to Klaus’ prison and locking it. Klaus stared after him and wondered if any of the hallucinations he’d had in the last four years were real. Hundreds of miles away, a woman woke up and gasped.

* * *

**Mystic Falls**

A woman walked calmly but briskly through the former Salvatore Boardinghouse, now the Salvatore School for the Gifted, towards the Staff Lounge. When she closed the door, a dozen heads turned to face her.

Following the defeat of Cade, and the ascension of his successor, the Mystic Falls Gang had decided the best way to help Lizzie, Josie and children like them was to open their own school in the former boardinghouse. So far, the school only had four students, the twins, a distant cousin of Bonnie’s and a young orphaned werewolf, and two instructors: Bonnie and Valerie. Alaric and Jeremy had been assigned finding students and Caroline dealt with the day-to-day. The other staff were Spirits of Hell brought to earth by the devil for various reasons.

“I found him.” She said looking at one person in particular. “Whatever was hiding him, it stopped working.”

“Are you sure?” The new leader of Hell asked with a hard voice. “You’re positive it was him, Tessa?”

“Yes I am.” Qetsiyah, or Tessa as she liked to be called, responded. “I have no idea how someone managed to hide him from everyone in this room,” Tessa gestured to the various people, some were alive or undead but most of whom had recently been brought back from Hell, “but I finally found Klaus. He’s in New Orleans.”

“Oh thank god.” Caroline said releasing a breath.

“Yay, the hybrid’s alive and we know where. Why does that matter?” Someone asked.

“Because now Carebear over there can stop moping about finding him and start panicking about saving him.” Katherine stated, rolling her eyes. “Panicking Caroline is easier to deal with than moping Caroline.”

Katherine, Tessa and quite a few other less than friendly faces, had been brought to this plane by the new devil in order to find the Mikaelson family. No one had been told why the devil wanted the Original family found and none of the resurrected people felt comfortable asking.

“Now, we find Hayley. She probably has the other Mikaelsons.” The devil said. “Since none of them have been sent to my domain, they have to be on Earth somewhere.”

“Remind me again why we’re Team Mikaelson all of a sudden?” A resurrected male werewolf asked.

“We’re not ‘Team Mikaelson’. We’re Team ‘Do What I Say or You Get Sent Back to Hell’.” The ruler of Hell said before turning back to face the whole group. “Now, we're not going to approach Hayley Marshall just yet. She’s been on the run for years and if we approach now, we may spook her and delay our goal. Keep an eye on what she’s doing and a nudge in the right direction if needed.” They then turned to Katherine. “Find me someone in Hell that one of the Mikaelsons knows. Preferably, someone they trust.”

“I know the perfect person.” Katherine said grinning.

“Good. Now there’s just one more thing to do.”

* * *

**New Orleans**

Vincent Griffith was leaving his meeting with his fellow witches when he felt a change in the air. It felt like magic. Strong magic, old magic, magic the witch leader had no knowledge of. He tried to use his skill to lead him towards the source of such magic but he was unsuccessful. The energy seemed to be coming from all around him, like everything in existence was exuding this force. He had no answers and decided not to say anything to Marcel unless he had to.

* * *

**Mystic Falls**

**“** It’s done.” A witch said without looking up. “If he gets moved again, we’ll know the moment it happens.”

“Fantastic.” The devil said, smiling.


	2. Chapter 2

**March 2019- New Orleans**

Marcel left the Mikaelson compound slightly less on edge. Klaus had told him flattery and stroking his ego was the key to keeping Alistair Duquesne in line. The king of New Orleans felt less on edge, but nowhere near at ease. He knew Klaus well enough to know this could very easily be a trick to gain his freedom and, years of starvation or not, Klaus was still Klaus. Marcel decided to give Klaus the benefit of the doubt, for now.

Later that day, Marcel sat in his apartment fuming. Of course Klaus had lied to him, he should have seen it sooner. Now, Marcel was in a tight situation. He couldn’t kill Alistair without looking weak, and he couldn’t let Alistair kill Klaus. Now, he had a choice: let Klaus fight Alistair and expose his location to others, or allow Alistair to find Rebekah and the other Mikaelsons. There was no love lost between Marcel and most of the family, but he couldn’t let Rebekah die.

* * *

**Austin**

In the corner of a seedy bar in Austin, two dead werewolves and a dead vampire sat waiting. They’d heard from their ‘employer’ that a Malrux wolf had been found. Finding her was easy; keeping her out of trouble until Hayley arrived was another story.

“Remind me again why we don’t just take her?” one of the wolves asked.

“We don’t need her, we need the hybrid looking for her. Keelin over there is the last thing Hayley needs to awaken the Mikaelsons. Hayley finds her, and then we find them.” The vampire answered. The threesome got quiet when they saw Hayley enter the bar and sit down.

When Hayley and Keelin left the bar, the two wolves followed them, and the vampire lingered to make a call. Before reporting in, she sped into the kitchen to handle the vampire threatening the staff. Unwilling to draw the fight out, Nadia simply ran over to the vampire in question and tore his heart out. When that was done, she made a phone call.

“Yes?” the voice on the other end of the phone answered.

“We found the girl and Hayley. The other two are following her now. If I had to guess, I’d say within two hours, they’ll be up.”

“Good. I sent another associate of ours your way. He’ll help wake them up while you three deal with any party crashers.”

“Understood.”

In an abandoned warehouse, Hayley stabbed a needle into a blonde woman’s chest and Freya Mikaelson gasped awake.

“Did you get the ingredients?” Freya asked and Hayley nodded. “Good, I need to begin. If I can't turn all that into a cure, Elijah and Kol are going to die.”

“How long do we have?”

“An hour, maybe more. Assuming they live that long.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re here to help.” All three women turned towards the voice and saw two men and two women standing in the warehouse.

“Who are you?” Hayley asked threateningly.

“Right. None of you have met any of us.” One man said. “I’m Markos, that’s Nadia, and the two wolves over there are Brady and Jules.”

“Why are you here?”

“You’re not the only one with a vested interest in making sure the Mikaelson family survives.” Markos said, dodging the question. “I’m here to help with the spell, the other three will deal with any distractions.”

“How do I know you’re not really here to kill my family?” Freya asked suspiciously.

“If we, or our boss, didn’t want them alive, we would have killed her,” Nadia said pointing to Keelin, “two weeks ago when we found her. I also wouldn’t have made sure Mary got a lead on her.”

* * *

**New Orleans**

“You wanted him, you got him.” Marcel said to Alistair, pointing towards a doorway that Klaus was being pulled through.

“Oh, Niklaus. How the mighty have fallen.” Alistair said.

“Pretty pathetic. Chained. Beaten. Half-starved. I should just kill him. After all, a wise man once said ‘One cannot be free if one’s oppressors continue to live.’ And what I’ve learned is, the best way to end your fear is to face it yourself. So, for you, a gift.” Marcel grabbed the sword Alistair had given him earlier that day. “The sword you gave me, now laced with my venom. One slice will draw Klaus’ blood and deliver the slow, agonizing death he deserves.”

“It would be my highest honor.”

Alistair moved to grab the blade when it went flying towards the entrance of the compound. Every head turned and saw a man with light brown hair holding the sword. “Sorry, but that’s not happening.”

“And who exactly are you to decide that? “ Alistair asked about to run forward and take the sword from him.

The man scratched his face and said. “Right, Tessa. If you would be so kind.” A dark haired woman stepped out from behind him with one hand raised. The vampires soon found themselves in immense pain.

“Look, Stefan. You seemed like an okay guy five years ago, give me back the sword so we can finish this and I’ll forget about what you just did.” Marcel said.

“Umm…I’m not Stefan. He’s just a cheap perversion of me, in more ways than one.” Silas said before walking over to Klaus. “Remember me? How much fun I had convincing you that you were dying?”

“No, it’s not possible. You died, the Other Side got destroyed. You shouldn’t be here, it’s not possible.”

“I mean, clearly it is.” Silas said. “Lucky for you, someone up there, or down there I guess, doesn’t want you to die just yet.” He reached down and snapped the hybrid’s neck. The former immortal then looked at the sword in his hand and focused. A few moments later, a flame engulfed the blade and, when the fire went out, the venom was no longer coating the weapon.

“Okay, that’s it. Whoever kills him,” Marcel said pointing to Silas “gets any request they want granted.”

The various vampires rushed the man, each eager to earn a favor from their king. For several minutes, the only sound coming from the compound was grunting and then the sound of necks snapping. While Silas was fighting off most of the vampires, Sofiya had snuck up behind him and, when she saw an opportunity, tore his heart out.

Everyone stopped in confusion when nothing happened. Instead of dying, Silas shrugged and broke her neck.

“Stop!” Marcel yelled. The vampires all stopped their attacks. “What are you?”

“Oh, right. My name is Silas, this is Tessa, my psychotic ex-fiancé.”

“I don’t care. How can you survive without a heart?”

“Ah, that. I died, years ago. A few months before the Other Side collapsed. Since I’m already dead, I can’t be killed again.” Silas then turned to Tessa, “Is it done?”

“Yup. They’re all stuck here until you-know-who comes for them.” She said smiling.

Another voice called out when Qetsiyah finished speaking. “Wait, they’re stuck here? That wasn’t part of the plan.” Someone pushed their way through the crowd.

“Diego?” Josh said, looking shocked.

“Hey.” He said to Josh before turning back to Silas. “Trapping them here, with him, was not part of the plan.”

“Actually, yeah it is.” Silas said. “It’s always been part of the plan.”

“Don’t be so mean, Silas.” Katherine said walking into the compound. She was flanked by a redheaded woman and a brunette. “He didn’t know on purpose.”

“Katherine, what’s he talking about?”

“We never had much faith in you Diego. Conflicting interests and all that. You had a single job, and you couldn’t even do that. You know what happens now.”

“What? No…I….” Diego began to panic and everyone watched in confusion at his reaction. No one had a chance to ask Diego why he was so concerned, as the wind picked up and a voice called out.

“Diego. You failed me. I raised you from the dead, and you can’t even do the one thing I asked of you.“ Silas, and his companions recognized the voice but no one else did.

“No, please. I can…. I can do better.”

“As I told your friend months ago, I don’t give second chances. If you cannot follow simple instructions, I have no use for you. Which means, you should not be walking the earth.” Diego continued begging to no avail, and a second later he was engulfed in flames.

“That always looks so cool.” The brunette next to Katherine said.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Right, I’m Vicki. This is Sage and that is the infamous Katherine Pierce.”

“Where did he go?” Josh asked in a broken voice.

“Nowhere you want to be.”

“Why should we give a shit?” Alistair asked before turning to Marcel. “Can we get back to killing him now?” he pointed to Klaus.

Sage rolled her eyes and sped over to the vampire, tearing his heart out. “I swear, these young vampires, so arrogant. They never listen.” She then turned to face the crowd. “Let’s get a few things straight. One, you’re not killing Klaus today. Two, you all are trapped here for the time being. Three, the five of us cannot be killed, but all of you, and I do mean all of you, still can, so don’t do anything stupid.”

* * *

**Austin**

Elijah turned away from the burning corpses to face Hayley. “May I ask who those four are?” he said referring to Markos and the others.

“I don’t know for sure. They showed up right after I woke Freya. They claim to not want to hurt our family.”

“Do you trust them?”

“Of course not. “

“You really should.” Brady said standing behind them. “The four of us had a lot more to lose than you did.”

“They’re my family.”

“And if they hadn’t survived, Jules, me and the other two would have gotten sucked back to Hell to be tortured for eternity.”

“What do you mean ‘sucked back to Hell’?” Elijah asked.

“The four if us, we’re dead. Like dead dead, not undead like you people. We got sent to Hell. Someone down there likes you, or at least doesn’t want you to die. The four of us, and a few other people got pulled out of Hell for something. Part of that plan was making sure you four, and Klaus, survive.” Brady said before walking off.

Hayley and Elijah spoke for a few minutes about personal matters when the topic of Hope came up.

“I promised her I’d reunite our family. There’s just one person left.”

“Let’s go get him.”


	3. Chapter 3

“How long are we to be trapped here?” Marcel asked, agitated. It had been less than an hour since Silas first appeared.

“Until we get what we want or the devil decides to give you an audience. It could be a few years.” Katherine said.

“The devil? Seriously?” one of the vampires asked.

“Deadly. Hell, the devil, perpetual torment, it's all real.”

“Bullshit.” The same vampire said.

“Really? Most of you are vampires, one of you is a hybrid, there’s a witch or two in here, and you all just witnessed another vampire, who died years ago, get burned out of existence by Hellfire but the devil is too much of a stretch?”

“Fine.” Marcel said. “Let’s say I believe you and the devil is real. What does Klaus or any of us have to do with it?”

“I don’t know. See, I’m just happy that I’m no longer being tortured in Hell indefinitely so I don’t ask too many questions.” Sage said. “When the devil tells you to do something, you do it. Even though this one is better than the last one.”

“The last one?”

“Ah, I forgot. You were so busy in your tiny little kingdom, you haven’t been paying attention to the big world. Hell underwent a regime change about a year ago. So the devil who was content to ignore your kind for a millennia isn’t the devil that sent us here.”

“Can you just call him or something? Find out what this is about.” Josh asked.

The visitors from Hell all chucked. Katherine answered. “You do know Hell is a separate dimension right? No matter how good the cell service is, you can’t just call up Hell.”

“Well, not on a phone.” Vicki added. “But it’s a little late for that right now.”

“How then? He’s your boss, how do we call the devil?” Marcel asked.

“There’s two ways.” Qetsiyah said, sounding bored. “Option one: sacrifice 12 children.”

“Option two?” Vincent asked.

“There’s a bell that was forged years ago, it has the ability to summon the devil.”

“Yeah, it's too bad we only have one piece of it here.” Vicki said.

“Two pieces.” Silas said. “You have the heirloom and Kitty Kat over there has the tuning fork.”

“See?” Katherine said, hitting it against a wall. None of the vampires reacted but Vincent got a splitting headache.

“What the hell is that thing?” Vincent asked after he recovered.

“It’s a tuning fork specially designed to disrupt psychic energy. Unfortunately for you, magic is rooted in psychic energy so it affects witches too.”

“The bell still isn’t here and we don’t have anyone to ring it.” Vicki argued.

“What do you mean ‘someone to ring it’?”

Silas sighed and turned to face Marcel. “The bell can only be rung by the living. It can’t be rung by a witch, werewolf or anyone who has ever died, even if they were resurrected. A 100% normal, non-supernatural, non-resuscitated human.”

“Sorry we’re late.” A woman’s voice called out. “Transporting the bell without letting the Armory know I have it was harder than I thought. Luckily, these nice young men were willing to help a poor, weak historian trying to restore the bell.” Isobel said, gesturing to the group of four men carrying the bell inside. “And wouldn’t you know, Bryan Maxwell here is an ordinary, run-of-the-mill human. He’s agreed to ring the bell for us.”

“How helpful of him.” Silas said, and the others nodded in agreement. “Now, Bryan, we need you to ring that bell twelve times. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

Silas smiled and he and Qetsiyah went to work reassembling the bell. Vicki retreated upstairs to find some alcohol. Sage and Katherine stayed where they were, observing the crowd.

“Katerina, Sage. I’d say it’s a pleasure, but why lie?” Klaus said, speaking for the first time since waking.

“Seeing you like this is pleasurable for me. Kinda makes up for all you put me through for five centuries.” Katherine said. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It does make me less angry at him for sticking Finn in a box for nine centuries.” Sage admitted.

“And let me guess? When the devil comes personally for my soul, that will be your revenge.”

“The devil doesn’t want your soul yet. In all honesty, I don’t know why we’re doing this, but we are.”

“Well, I’m doing this so Finn and I don’t get sent back to Hell.” Sage said.

“There is that.” Katherine said nodding.

“Wait, Finn is here? Alive?” Klaus asked.

“Your brother didn’t find peace. If you don’t find peace, you get sent to Hell. When the two of us got pulled out, other people did too. Like Silas, Qetsiyah and the werewolf you used to break your curse.”

Half an hour after Isobel’s arrival, Silas and Qetsiyah began chanting. Everyone trapped in the compound felt a surge of energy and a strong gust of wind. Then Silas said, “It’s done. The bell is complete. Mr. Maxwell, if you would?”

The crowd stood watching as Bryan rang the bell once. Then a second time, then a third. They stood in silence as Bryan got closer and closer to a dozen rings, most of the vampires wondering what would happen. After ring number eleven, everyone waited in trepidation. Someone sped into the compound and hit Bryan hard enough to knock him out. Ring number twelve never came.

“Exactly how stupid are you people?” Bryan’s attacker yelled.

“Damon, why did you stop him?” Katherine yelled.

“He was gonna ring the bell twelve times!”

“Yeah, that’s what we wanted.” One of Marcel’s vampires said annoyed. “How else are we supposed to summon the devil?”

Damon stared at him before looking at Katherine and the others. He looked back at the vampires and spoke. “They didn’t tell you the fine print, did they?”

“What fine print?” Marcel asked dangerously.

“Oh, the bell will let you talk to the devil. See Hell is a separate plane, like the other side used to be, but worse. The entire domain is pretty much a giant ball of fire. Now, a massive amount of psychic energy is the only thing keeping it from leaking onto this plane. The tuning fork disrupts that energy, and when amplified by the bell, it rips a hole open straight to the devil.”

“And? That's the point."

“Ringing the bell 12 times cracks open the door between this world and Hell. Meaning, you open that door, Hellfire’s gonna come pouring out. And Hellfire? It will destroy everything for miles. Including-“

“The entire city of New Orleans.” Qetsiyah finished for him.

“Which I’m guessing was part of some plan of Katherine’s to harvest all your souls. So, you see. I did you a favor.” Damon finished. “How many times did it ring?”

“Eleven.”

“Dammit. Well, at least you didn’t level the city and kill thousands.” Damon said gritting his teeth. “I’m gonna bounce before the stupidity of your actions catch up to you.” He then sped away.

Damon smiled as he walked away from the compound. Caroline and Alaric’s plan had worked perfectly. The bell was rung just enough times, Damon made himself look like a possible ally to Marcel for now and he got to screw over Katherine and Silas, even if it was planned. Maybe the Mystic Falls gang should have left more of the planning to Caroline in the past.

The assembled vampires turned to look at Katherine. “You lied to us.” Marcel said.

“No, we didn’t. You wanted to talk to my boss, if you’re dead and in Hell, you could have.”

“What does eleven rings do? He seemed very upset that eleven rings happened.” Sofiya asked.

“What do you think happens?” Vicki countered.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you.”

“I’m guessing it unleashes something over than Hellfire.” Josh said, trying to be helpful.

“You’d be correct. Twelve rings would’ve been ideal, but we can work with only eleven.” Silas raised his hand and muttered something before turning to the crowd. “You all, except Klaus of course, are now free to go.”

“Really? You’re just letting us go?” Someone asked.

“Why not? We got what we wanted, Alistair is dead and people would notice that you’re missing.”

“I don’t get it. I didn’t need you to kill Alistair and you didn’t need us to ring the bell. Why get involved with this at all?”

“We have our reasons. Don’t hurt your pretty little brain trying to work out why.” Qetsiyah said before turning to leave. “Toodles.”

The assembled vampires dispersed, and Marcel and Vincent quickly returned Klaus to his ‘cell’. Worry about what had just occurred weighed heavy on both men’s minds. Vincent went to the witches to see if anything unusual had happened or if they sensed anything. Marcel went into damage control mode to keep what just happened from being leaked to others.

Klaus was too wrapped up in what Damon had said regarding Hell and the devil, and learning Finn was walking the earth once again, that he didn’t even bother trying to goad Vincent or Marcel into a fight. Damon’s familiarity with the devil made the hybrid uneasy, as did the presence of Katerina Petrova.

“Sorry you didn’t get to tear Alistair’s head off.” Vicki said from the doorway. “He seemed like a dick.”

“He was like that long before I turned him or made him kill his family.” Klaus admitted. “Who exactly are you?”

“I am…. well was Matt's sister. Damon turned me into a vampire and Stefan killed me. A little over a year ago, the devil brought me back.”

“What does eleven rings do?”

“I’ll answer that question later. It can’t be the only one you have. And there are things she wants you to know.”

“She?”

“Caroline. You know, yea high, blonde hair, super well organized. “

“Caroline knows the devil?”

“Well, all of this, saving you, helping wake your family, it's her plan.”

“Who is the new devil?” Klaus asked.

“I can’t tell you that,” she answered.

“Can you tell me anything?”

“Questions about the bell I can answer. Anything you ask about Hell itself or what the plan is, I can answer based on what I know. But questions about who the devil is and how they became that way, I am physically incapable of answering. I’ve essentially been compelled to not be able to answer. They want you to know some but not everything.”

“Fine. How did you know to come here tonight? During the fight?”

“One of Marcel’s vampires was sent back from Hell. He heard Marcel invite Alistair here to settle their differences. He told the devil who acted accordingly. So Silas and Qetsiyah cloaked themselves and waited.” Vicki stated simply. “I also think someone decided to use the opportunity as a show of force.”

“And how did anyone know to station someone here? I’ve been ‘missing’ for five years.”

“About that. When the new boss took over, the first order of business was finding you and your family. I don’t know why. Finding Hayley was easy with the power of Hell behind us, but you were harder to find. Until eleven months ago. Whatever spell or object was cloaking you stopped working. Qetsiyah was instantly able to find you and that’s how we knew to put someone in New Orleans.”

“So the devil doesn’t want me dead? I suppose that’s a good thing. What of my family?”

“Doesn’t want them dead either. Look, I have to report in about everything, you get one more question.”

“What does eleven rings do?”

“Last time that bell rang eleven times, I got pulled out of Hell.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's jailbreak/family reunion time

**Mystic Falls**

In the Staff Lounge of the Salvatore School, seven people and the devil sat waiting. Alaric, Matt, Jeremy, Bonnie, Caroline, Valerie and the Salvatore brothers agreed, after discovering the identity of the next leader of Hell, to keep that knowledge a secret. Anonymity was a powerful agent in the supernatural world. They had formed a council of sorts to stop the new devil from losing their connection to humanity. All of them, except Damon, were waiting for progress reports from the people who’d been sent to New Orleans.

“You shouldn’t worry so much.” Alaric said to the devil, who was tapping their fingers against the conference table. “Between Katherine, Tessa and Silas, the bell will be rung. And Nadia will keep the other three in line.”

“I’m not worried about that. I just hope Damon interrupts them at the right moment.”

“He will.” Jeremy said. “Damon’s a dick, but he’s a dick with good timing.”

Any rebuttal was cut off when the phone rang. Being the closest, Valerie picked up the phone and put it on speaker. “Yes?”

“Mikaelsons are awake. The vampires following Hayley have been dealt with. They’ll probably move on Klaus soon.” Markos said.

The devil smiled and said, “Good. You and Nadia get back here. The other two will be going with them.”

“Yes boss.” The dead Traveler hung up.

An hour later, Damon called to inform them that the plan worked perfectly. Katherine manipulated a distant relative of Matt’s to ring the bell and Damon arrived just in time to stop ring number 12 and leak just enough information to Marcel. He also mentioned that Qetsiyah and Silas were still as dysfunctional, and deadly, as ever. Silas and Qetsiyah’s impersonation of the devil to get rid of Diego was similarly successful. Finally, Katherine called to inform the group that Qetsiyah and Vicki were staying behind in New Orleans to ensure Klaus’ escape.

* * *

**Woods Outside New Orleans**

Elijah stood up, dislodging the corpse that was lying in his lap. “We free Niklaus today. Even if I have to burn that city to the ground.”

“Great. I always wanted to plan a prison break.” A voice said from behind them. The Originals turned and saw Jules and Brady. “Plus, I love setting fires.”

“Why are you following us?” Rebekah asked.

“As I told him yesterday,” Brady said, pointing to Elijah. “Hayley wasn’t the only person with a vested interest in making sure your family survives.”

“Right. The devil doesn’t want us to die.” Kol said sarcastically. “Why exactly would he care?”

“No idea. Then again, maybe they’re waiting for the right moment to kill you.” Brady said. “Either way, because my new boss cares, for whatever reason, finding Klaus is going to be a lot easier.”

“How exactly is it going to be easier?”

Jules snorted and answered. “We’ve been shadowing Hayley for almost a year. Did you think they wouldn’t send someone to New Orleans to locate your brother?”

* * *

**New Orleans-** **Josh’s Apartment**

The fugitive Mikaelson family stood in Josh’s loft arguing about what to do.

“We need to find Niklaus.” Elijah said.

“What we need is to lure Marcel away from the quarter so you can save Nik. I can do that, Elijah.” Rebekah pointed out.

“Actually, we need to figure out what exactly Josh here knows and act accordingly. I’m down for a little bit of torture after five years asleep.” Kol said.

The discussion devolved into shouting quickly after. Josh was reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone and text Marcel when Jules saw the motion. She gave Brady a look before picking up a pen and throwing it. it embedded itself in Josh's neck.

“Bad idea, baby vampire.” She told him. When he was busy pulling the pen out, Brady stole his phone. Jules rolled her eyes and spoke. “You don’t need to find Klaus. One of my colleagues knows where he is. I’m just waiting for his arrival. Distracting Marcel and watching Josh here is something you do need to do.”

The family quieted, and Elijah asked, “When is this colleague of yours arriving?”

“You know, for four people who are centuries old, you guys are really impatient. I’m glad to see the five year comas didn’t change too much.” Damon said from the doorway. He then turned to face Josh. “I remember you. The vampire whose dead friend got deported back to Hell. Jules, break his neck.”

The werewolf glared but complied with Damon’s order. ”Damon, you died?” Rebekah asked.

“Many times, but I’m not like Jules with the whole ‘dead and bound to Hell’ thing. Anyway, your brother, who I can’t believe I’m helping, is being kept in a dungeon under your old compound. And if I know the devil, and I do, at least one resurrected minion was left behind in case you run into trouble.” Damon said, sounding bored. “So I guess Elijah, long lost sister and baby mama go and get Klaus while sexy Beks distracts Marcel and Kol stays here to keep Josh from running his mouth. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other things to do.”

* * *

**Lafayette Cemetery**

“It will never be over.” Rebekah warned Marcel. “You will never find peace, not a day in your life, as long as you hold my brother captive. We will stop at nothing-“

Rebekah was cut off as someone shot her in the back. “Sorry to interrupt. Though in fairness, she does talk a lot. Should I drop her in the gulf?” Sofiya asked.

“Nobody lays a finger on her. I just have to go kill her brother.” Marcel ordered.

“It’s a battle where the bad guys caught the good guys off guard. Marcels’ warning me that you’re all here so I can spread the word to the rest of our guys.” Josh told Kol, when the Original spotted the text message about Teutoburg on his phone and asked what it meant.

“So you can keep us busy and Marcel can kill us.” Kol finished for him before breaking his neck. “You’re lucky Davina liked you.”

“You really don’t know when to quit.” Sofiya said as she stabbed another arrow into Rebekah’s back. The blonde kept waking up and she had to keep shooting her to avoid any problems.

“You know, we could get a pretty penny for Rebekah Mikaelson.” Another vampire said.

“Yes we could. But if Marcel wants her safe, then I’m gonna keep her safe.”

The vampire was about to respond when he fell to the ground dead. “Well, he won’t be taking anyone, as he is rather indisposed. But to be fair, you won’t be keeping anyone either.” Kol said, tossing the man’s heart away.

Sofiya’s cohorts ran towards Kol while she ran away. On her way out of the cemetery, she ran into Jules. “Running away so soon?” the werewolf asked. She pulled an odd looking dagger out of her pocket.

“It’s not a full moon. I could tear through you like tissue paper.” Sofiya countered.

Jules rolled her eyes and threw the blade, which buried itself in the vampire’s shoulder. Sofiya pulled it out and threw it to the side. “One, I’m already dead. And two, I don’t need to kill you.” She walked past the vampire and headed towards Kol and Rebekah. Sofiya stared after her in confusion before walking away. Jules found the two Mikaleson siblings as Kol was bashing one vampire’s face in.

“Can we leave this awful city now?” Kol practically yelled.

“Where’s Elijah?”

* * *

**The Abattoir**

Elijah, Freya and Hayley moved silently into the compound, hoping no one else was around. The two undead members of the group sensed something was off but ignored it due to time constraints. Walking into the tunnels, they saw Klaus chained and sitting in a circle of salt. He was talking to a brunette woman no one else had seen before.

Elijah and Freya ran up to the locked gate, which gained the brunette’s attention. “Niklaus! Brother.”

“Let me.” Freya said opening the lock with magic.

“Oh good. You guys made it here. That means I have to do my job.” Vicki said.

“Say hello to the devil for me.” Klaus said from his spot on the floor. “You three look well.”

Freya broke the lock off and the trio ran into the cell. “This spell is strong. It’s been reinforced over time, which means it's gonna take time to break.”

“We don’t have time.” Elijah said.

“I could try brute force. Overwhelm it. But I’ll need someone to channel.”

“Channel me. Elijah, keep watch.” Hayley said.

Marcel’s voice could be heard from upstairs and the trio had a decision to make.

“Whatever happens, don’t stop until Niklaus is free.” Elijah said.

Freya grabbed Hayley’s hand and Elijah ran upstairs.

He ran to the main floor of the compound and found himself face-to-face with Marcel. “Hello Marcellus.”

“You find some way to survive my bite and you have the audacity to come back. What happened? Immortality just got boring?”

“I’ve come for my brother. He has suffered enough. He leaves here today.”

“We’ll see about that.” Both men pounced to attack.

After a few minutes of throwing each other back and forth across the courtyard, Hayley sped between the two fighting men. “Enough.”

“Hayley, leave us.” Elijah said.

“He’s right. This is between me and him.”

“And if I stay you’ll kill me too?” She asked. “Make my daughter an orphan?”

“This isn’t your fight.”

“Yes, it is.”

An unseen person had been watching the courtyard since Elijah’s arrival. She wanted to see what the Mikaelsons would do when facing Marcel.

“Hayley, get Niklaus and go.” Elijah said not taking his eyes off Marcel.

“Your brother isn’t going anywhere Elijah. And neither are you.”

The invisible woman made herself visible and raised her arm. “Actually, they are. Sorry, but as I said yesterday, the devil doesn’t want them dead.” Qetsiyah said. Marcel found himself on the receiving end of the worst aneurysm of his life. The pain was so intense he was forced to his knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Freya and Klaus come running into the courtyard. “Go. Now.”

As she heard the group run away, Marcel gritted his teeth and spat out one thing. “I will kill you for this.”

“I’m already dead, idiot.” Qetsiyah bit back before snapping his neck with her magic.

* * *

**Outside New Orleans**

“Elijah, this is me not worrying that you were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago. Please call me back.” Rebekah said as she paced in front of the sewer entrance.

“It’s been too long, we should go.” Kol said.

“We’re not leaving our family.”

“Marcel could be tearing our family to shreds as we speak.”

“Or, they don’t have cell service in a drainage pipe.”

Kol’s reply was cut off when Elijah, Freya and Hayley exited the drainage pipe, with Elijah supporting Klaus. “Nik!”

“You can hug him later. We need to leave.” Freya said.

“Marcel’s right behind us. We need to go."

The family turned around and saw someone standing in front of them. “Actually, I’m right here.”

* * *

**Elsewhere**

“They got him out. Tessa bought them some time and I found the blade.” Vicki reported.

“Good.” The voice on the other end of the phone said. “I suspect that is all?”

“One more thing. Jules used the knife on one of Marcel’s people.”

“Who was it?”

“Some vampire named Sofiya.”

* * *

**Outside New Orleans**

“You shouldn’t have come back. None of you.” Marcel said as he stood threateningly before the Mikaelson family.

“That’s what family does, we fight for each other.” Hayley said stepping forward.

“Yeah, I’ve heard. That didn’t really work out for me, did it?”

Kol rolled his eyes. “You were never a Mikaelson, get over it. Don’t you have a city to run?”

Marcel stepped forward to attack but Rebekah got in between Kol and Marcel. “If you want to kill one of us, you’ll have to kill all of us.”

“Don’t push me, Rebek-“ Marcel was cut off when his neck was broken. To add insult to injury, his attacker then pulled out a stake and stabbed him in the heart.

“I’ve been waiting so long to do that.” Katherine said as she stood up from the body. “Hello Elijah.”

“Katerina. How…. how are you here?”

“Didn’t one of the wolves tell you the devil could resurrect anyone in Hell?” She asked.

“Can we discuss this later please?” Hayley interrupted. “He could wake up soon.”

A car sped towards the group and stopped centimeters away from Katherine. The driver’s door opened and Finn stepped out. “Com with me if you want to live.”

“Terminator. Nice.” Kol said, having watched the films after being undaggered in Mystic Falls.

“What on earth are you talking about?” The eldest brother asked. The group shook their heads and got into the vehicle. Most of the drive was spent in silence, until Rebekah asked a question.

“How are you here right now?”

“The same way Katherine and the other dead people are.” Finn said. “When I died, my spirit was sent to Hell. The current devil took over Hell, and she let me out. I have no idea why though.”

The Mikaelsons turned to look at Katherine for an explanation. “Yeah, no one knows why. The devil is a little tight-lipped on details and no one wants to ask her about them.”

“Her?” Hayley asked. This was the third time the devil was referred to as female.

“Yeah, the devil’s a woman now. And, in a shocking turn of events, most of you have met her before. Hell, Klaus even spoke with her recently.”

“We have?” Kol asked.

“When could I have spoken to her? I’ve been in a dungeon for five years.” Klaus asked.

“Last April, when she had Silas project her consciousness into your mind. It was right after Marcel pulled the blade out.”

“That was the devil? I thought it was some hunger-induced hallucination.”

“Nope, it was the devil.” Katherine said, popping the ‘p’.

“Back on topic, some of us have met the devil?” Kol asked again.

“Wait, no one told you?” Katherine asked Elijah, Kol, Rebekah and Freya who shook their heads. She then turned to Klaus. “And Vicki didn’t tell you either?”

“No, she didn’t tell me much of anything.”

“Oh. I guess I’ll tell you then. The fight where Cade, the old devil, was killed and the current devil took over happened just outside Mystic Falls. And she’s from Mystic Falls.”

“Of course the devil is from Mystic Falls.” Rebekah deadpanned. “Who is it?”

“She can’t tell you.” Klaus interjected. “I asked Vicki, and she told me the souls bound to Hell are unable to identify her. They’re basically compelled to not be able to say the name.”

“It’s actually more complex than that. “ Finn said. “It’s a lot harder to fight someone you can’t identify. Personal feelings aside, it's an improvement over the last devil.”

“Yeah. The only people who can tell you the devil’s name are the seven people who were there when she beat Cade.” Katherine added. “And they aren’t keen on sharing.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus meets the devil and strikes a deal.

**MYSTIC FALLS-FEBRUARY 2018**

“So I’m the devil. Well I guess it could be worse.” Cade’s killer said.

“How?” Stefan asked

“The devil could be someone else, like Julian.” Valerie said.

“Or Katherine.” 

“Or Silas.”

“Or Kai.”

“We could go all night with this, so let’s just stop.” Damon suggested.

“I have to admit, it does make sense.” The new devil said. “I know it’s only been a few hours since I killed Cade, but I feel…off. Or, I guess different is a better word.”

“Different how?”

“I…. more powerful, stronger for one thing. I also…. I can kinda sense things I shouldn’t be able to.”

“What does that mean?” Matt asked.

“I can feel Lizzie and Josie's presence even though they’re a mile away being watched by Dorian. I can tell that Kai wasn’t the only person to escape Hell when that bell rang. And when I woke up, all I could hear was screaming.”

“That fits with what Georgie found out.” Alaric said to the group. “Cade was bound to Hell by psychic energy. When he died, all of that energy had to go somewhere, be bound to something.”

“Ok, but how can she survive containing that much energy?” Jeremy asked.

“I don’t know, Jer. All right? I have no idea. I mean, this is Hell and the devil and things way above everyone’s heads. My guess would be that she survives because Hell must have a ruler.”

“We can’t tell anyone who took over Hell.” The new ruler of Hell said. “We’re the only people that know, I’d like to keep it that way. It prevents any one of us from being singled out.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and the room fell silent. Until that is, Matt asked a question.

“Now that you’re the devil, what are you going to do?” Everyone looked at him in confusion. “You just said Kai wasn’t the only person to escape Hell. I don’t think you’d want a bunch of evil dead people running around.”

“I don’t. Especially considering I don’t know if they know who I am.”

Everyone left shortly after to process everything they’d just learned. The new leader of Hell got very little sleep that night, wondering how she was supposed to rule Hell and what this meant for those she cared about. They had agreed to meet late the next morning, after processing everything, to start planning.

At ten the next morning, everyone except Caroline and Alaric were standing in the kitchen of the Salvatore boarding house. The blonde came running in about fifteen minutes later with one of the twins holding her hand. Alaric came in shortly after with the other twin.

“Sorry I’m late. We had a little…trouble getting ready this morning.” The blonde blurted out.

“Mommy, can I go play?” Lizzie asked looking up at her mother.

“Of course sweetie. But stay where we can hear you.” Lizzie took her sister's hand and they skipped away. “Now, where were we?”

“Trying to process the giant pile of weirdness that got dropped on us last night.” Damon said.

Any reply got cut off by the doorbell ringing. Everyone looked around, no one was expecting someone to show up and it made the group uneasy. They moved into the foyer and Damon slowly opened the door.

His jaw dropped when he saw who was standing there. As did everyone else’s. “Vicki?” Matt said.

“Hey Matty. Everyone else.” Vicki said awkwardly.

“How are you alive?” Jeremy asked.

“Something let me out of Hell a few days ago. And last night, I felt something weird happen.”

“Wait, you were in Hell?” Matt asked.

“Where did you think that vortex sent me?” Vicki asked her brother. “I went to Hell and it sucked. I’m not too excited to go back.”

“Why are you here Vicki?”

“I just…. felt compelled to come here. It’s like Hell is trying to pull me back. I have no idea why.” Vicki looked at each person and stopped when her eyes landed on Cade’s killer. “It’s you, isn’t it? You’re the one who summoned me here.”

“I didn’t mean to.” The woman admitted. “I kinda… killed Cade and took over Hell yesterday.”

“Weirder things have happened. Although the fact that you’re the devil is hilarious.” Vicki said. “Cade let me out to do something. Now that he’s no longer in charge, whether I stay is up to you. I’d appreciate it if I didn’t get sent back to Hell.”

She looked between Matt and his sister and decided to be nice, for now. “I’ll make you a deal. Don’t tell anyone, and I mean anyone, I’m the devil, and you can stay.”

“Deal. I hope you know everyone who escaped Hell is on their way here right now.”

“Good. I could use the help.” 

* * *

**MARCH 2018**

“Why are we looking for my family again?” Finn asked from his seat at the table. The devil had raised Finn, Sage and a few others three weeks ago and set them to work locating the Mikaelson family.

“Because the boss lady said so. She needs them for something.” Vicki answered. As they conversed, the devil entered the room.

“This way I don’t need to strike a bargain with anyone else. Three of their souls are already mine and something tells me they don’t want to die. The only sibling that died in the last five years is you, so they have to be on earth somewhere. ”

* * *

**APRIL 2018**

“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” A witch asked the devil. "Other than the obvious. You wouldn't go to all of this trouble if there wasn't another, bigger, reason for it."

“The Mikaelson family are five of the strongest beings alive, six if you count Finn. Once I convince them it’s in their best interest to give me what I want, things will get a lot easier. Now that one is able to talk, we can strike a bargain.” The devil said not looking up. “Besides, something big is coming, and I need them awake for it.”

“Ok, fine. You’re the boss.”

**New Orleans**

Klaus Mikaleson sat in his prison, staring into space. After four years in unending agony, Marcel had finally removed Papa Tunde’s blade. He’d lost four years of time, missed out on four years of his daughter’s life and was now stuck in his former home and doomed to miss even more. For a brief moment, he wondered if anyone had missed him in the last few years. His family was asleep and Hope must have missed him, but he pondered if anyone else did. He doubted it. Outside of his family, the only person he cared about was Caroline, who was probably off seeing the world and achieving all those goals she was so focused on.

Klaus felt himself begin to lose consciousness.

“Hello Klaus.” he heard a familiar voice say. He turned his head slightly and saw something impossible.

“Camille? No, no this can’t be. You died. I’m hallucinating again.”

Camille then turned into Elijah. “Well, I’m not really Camille, or Elijah and you’re sort-of hallucinating. You’re somewhere in between awake and being asleep. It’s the only way.”

“Only way to what?”

“Talk to you. I’m not in this dank basement, I’m in there.” Fake-Elijah said pointing at Klaus’ head.

“So I’m losing my mind down here.”

“You have lived a long life, and yet you know very little of the world.” The facsimile of Elijah said, with an uncharacteristic head tilt.

Klaus stared for a second. “If you’re not Cami, you’re not Elijah either. Can you not look like him?”

“Can do.” Fake-Elijah said, shifting into Caroline. “I think I’m gonna stick with this one.”

The hybrid paused for a moment. “What do you want?”

“I just want to talk. It’s been a long time since anyone heard from you.”

“I’ve been a little indisposed for the last few years.”

“Oh, I know. The real Caroline came here looking for you not a year ago. She left rather disappointed.”

“An unfortunate side effect of my incarceration. “

“I’ve known of you for a long time, I never thought I’d see you like this.”

“Like what?”

“You’ve given up. What happened to you?”

“If you know me so well, you already know the answer to that.”

“Touché. Let me ask you something, when you get out of here, will you do me a favor?”

“I don’t even know who you are.”

“In time, you will. What do you say, if you’re out of here before the end of April 2019, will you do me a favor?”

“In the very unlikely event that I escape and my family is reunited within the next year, fine. I will owe you a favor.”

“Good.” Fake-Caroline said before her attention seemed to land on something else. “I have to go, I can’t stay in your mind for this long. Farewell Niklaus Mikaelson. I’ll see you soon.” She said and the fog surrounding Klaus’ sense dissipated.

Klaus woke up right as he heard Marcel walk down the steps.

**Mystic Falls**

“It worked.” Silas said not looking up.

“Fantastic. “

“What did that spell do to my brother?” Finn asked from the doorway.

"I simply needed to talk to him. I got him to agree to do something for me if he escapes by the end of next April." The devil said smiling. "Which he will."

And while they were talking, I was able to see how Klaus’s life is linked to the rest of your siblings.” Silas said. "And I put a locator spell on all four of them."

“This way, I can have someone trail Hayley even if she gives us the slip.” The devil said.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is reunited with one last person he's been missing and the Mikaelsons get a surprising visitor.

**The Safe house**

Finn and Katherine dropped the Mikaelsons off at Hayley’s safe house and left to deal with ‘Hell business’. Before Finn drove away, in a moment of uncharacteristic pleasantry, he cryptically told his family he’d ‘see them soon’.

“What is it?” Elijah asked seeing the look on his younger brother’s face.

“Five years never felt so long. Thank you for not abandoning me.” Klaus said looking between Elijah, Rebekah and Hayley.

“Well, we did consider it. The vote was rather close.” Rebekah and Elijah went into the house.

Hayley turned to look at Klaus who was still staring at the building. “You okay?”

“You mean considering the imprisonment, torture and forced isolation?”

“For what it's worth, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”

“I had moments of solace to sustain me. It’s because of them that I’m here now.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to see your little girl?” Hayley asked and Klaus could only nod. They went into the house and moved upstairs to one of the bedrooms. Hope was asleep on her bed; clearly she’d tried to stay awake until her mother returned. “Want me to wake her up?”

“No, let her sleep.”

* * *

**New Orleans**

“I didn’t exactly finish the job did I? Rebekah and Kol got away.” Sofiya said when Marcel complimented her for a job well done when the Mikaelsons had come to town.

“That’s the Mikaelsons. It’s hard to stop one, let alone the whole clan. Adding in this whole situation with the devil, if it can be believed, and most people would be dead.”

“I’m not most people. All I got was a tiny knife wound.”

Marcel nodded, willing to drop the issue until he smelled blood. Fresh blood. “Yeah, a knife wound that doesn’t appear to be healing.”

* * *

**Elsewhere**

“I dropped my siblings off at the safe house. I see Silas was nice enough to add some extra defenses to the cloaking spell.” Finn reported

“I didn’t give him much of a choice. You know, you could have stayed with them. They are your family.” The devil said.

“The family that doesn’t seem to care about me.”

“They care. Believe me, I’ve seen it. After your first death, after Kol’s. There’s a thousand years of baggage between you five, and you guys aren’t exactly easy to get along with. I’m just saying, I wouldn’t have dragged you back to Hell if you stayed for a few days. But I can’t force you to spend time with them.”

“Actually, you could.”

“Fine! I can make you, but I won’t. There? Is that better?”

* * *

**Safe house**

The Mikaelsons were sitting in the living room trying to figure out what to do next. Four of them had fallen asleep five years ago and woke up as if not a day had passed. The fifth had spent five years, mostly alone not counting the hallucinations he had every few months for the last year, and his only plan during that time was escaping and finding his family. The family was reunited but restless and uneasy. None of them knew if they believed the whole Hell and the devil story or why the devil would care about them.

For the moment, the family sat drinking bourbon and trying to wrap their heads around what happened over the last two days. Their musings ended when they heard a knock at the door. They looked cautiously at the door before Hayley slowly walked over and opened the door. When Hayley opened the door, she was so surprised by who was standing there that she let go of the doorknob. The door flew open and everyone could see who it was.

“Davina?” Kol asked. His voice had a mix of hope and disbelief with just a smidgen of anger.

“Hi Kol.” Davina said with a small smile.

“How…. How are you here? Your soul…. it…”

“I can answer that.” A voice said from behind Davina. Everyone was so shocked to see Davina, they didn’t notice Jeremy walking up behind her. “May we come in?”

“Yes, of course.” Elijah said, relieved that Davina was alive and suspicious of Jeremy.

“Thanks.” Jeremy came in and sat down. “I guess I should start with Davina’s death. As you know, the Ancestors used something-“

“La Gemme Vitale” Kol interrupted.

“Yes, that. It didn’t tear her soul to shreds like you thought. It kinda just tore it in two. Not enough to destroy it, but enough that she couldn’t be resurrected. You can’t be resurrected unless your soul’s intact. A part of her soul stayed on the Ancestral Plane but most of it was sent to Hell. Last April, the devil let Davina out of Hell.”

“So the devil resurrected Davina. Why?” Freya asked.

“Davina was one of the few souls there your family knew and trusted. I’m also pretty sure she agreed that Davina didn’t deserve an eternity of torture in Hell.”

“Is this true darling?” Kol asked Davina who seemed reluctant to talk about it.

“Yes. I was stuck in Hell, it was horrible. This woman, she said her name was Katherine, she found me and told me her boss would let me out of Hell if I helped when the time came.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” Kol said, hugging her. He couldn’t believe she was alive. Freya and Elijah were both unsure of what to do. They didn’t kill Davina, but they were responsible for letting her soul get destroyed and sent to Hell. Kol realized what Davina had just said and got worried. “What does the devil need you to do?”

“Nothing for now.” Jeremy answered for her.

“How do you know what the devil wants?”

“Because she told me what she was planning before she brought anyone back.” Jeremy said. They looked at him in confusion. “Katherine gave you the run-down on why hell is being run by a different person now, right?”

“She said someone killed the original devil and became the devil.”

“Yeah, that’s more or less what happened.”

“So you know who the devil is.” Klaus concluded. Jeremy nodded but didn’t speak. “You won’t tell us though, will you?”

“I don’t have to. She’s on her way here as we speak.” Everyone, especially the devil, felt like breaking the news to the Mikaelsons in person was the best idea, rather than have someone else tell them who the devil was.

“What?”

“She wanted to talk to you. I mean, she went to a lot of work reuniting you five.” Jeremy said. “And before you panic, one if she wanted you dead, she would have killed you already. Two, she has no interest in your child other than making sure her family stays intact. And three, she’s not the only one coming here.”

“The council is coming?” Davina asked, unsure if she should be afraid.

“What council?” Elijah asked.

“It’s what Vicki Donovan started calling those of us who were around when Cade died. The devil, and the seven other people who know who she is.”

“Who’s on the council?” Elijah asked, suspicious about the intentions of the group.

“Me, Matt, Damon, Stefan, Alaric, Bonnie, Caroline and Valerie.”

“Valerie, the siphoner who helped remove Rebekah’s hex?” Hayley asked.

“Yup.”

“So everyone in Mystic Falls that has tried to kill us except Tyler Lockwood and your sister. Fantastic.” Klaus said.

“Well, Tyler’s dead. For real this time. And my sister’s trying to avoid the supernatural” Jeremy rolled his eyes and scoffed. “How many times does someone have to tell you the same exact thing? She doesn’t want you dead, so stop freaking out.” He then went upstairs to the room Hayley offered him.

Downstairs, the Mikaelson family was recovering from Davina and Jeremy’s arrival. Klaus was furious that the devil was on her way here, where his child was, with a group of people who tried to kill him in the past. “You’re missing the big picture here, brother. We know the devil is a woman and Jeremy Gilbert told us the names of everyone who may be the devil. Only three were women and Katerina had mentioned that most of us have met the devil before. Which means-“

“Either Caroline or the Bennett witch are the devil.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mikaelsons comes face-to-face with the devil (again)

**The Safehouse**

The Mikaelson family sat anxiously on the porch the next morning. Today the family would get to meet Hope for the first time, and they had still had to plan what to do next. Adding to their stress was what Jeremy had told them last night. The devil was apparently on her way here with other people. Klaus wasn’t sure how he felt about Caroline or Bonnie being the devil. Neither was very devilish and, for at least one of the two, Klaus was worried what the job would do to her psyche.

The family discussion was interrupted when the front door opened. “Hey, everyone. Look who’s awake.” Hayley said, trying to nudge Hope forward.

"Hi." Hope said shyly.

"Hello." Klaus responded.

No else one quite knew what to say, so the family just looked at the girl. Hope began to feel weird, so she turned to her mother.

“Mom, can I go play in the garden?”

Hayley nodded and the girl walked off. The Mikaelsons, save Klaus, walked away to find something to do and give Klaus and Hayley some privacy.

“I know you’re about to accuse me of telling Hope you’re a monster or letting Mary tell her all about your misdeed. That’s not true. She doesn’t know your history. She knows you’re a hybrid, like me, and you’re very old. She’s seven, the rest can wait.”

“Yet, she fears me.”

“She’s a sensitive kid, and you’re not exactly calm right now. You were her fairytale prince, Klaus. And now you’re real. It’s a lot to live up to.”

Klaus’s response was interrupted by Jeremy leaving the house. He was on the phone with someone and hung up when he saw them. “I just walked into the middle of some family thing didn’t I?”

“You could say that.” Klaus said a little warily. He then asked the question he’d spent the night agonizing over. “When are your friends arriving?”

“Not for a few days.” He responded. “Most of us wanted to give you some time to reconnect before just barging in on your lives.”

“Don’t I owe your boss something though? If the strange hallucination I had while imprisoned was accurate, I owe her a favor since I escaped from that prison before April.”

“First of all, she’s not my boss. She’s waited a long time to see you. She can wait a few days.” Jeremy answered. “Plus, given your…. disposition, finding you isn’t that difficult.” As Jeremy was talking, the other Mikaelsons had slowly made their way back towards the trio. “Thank you for letting me stay. Now if you’ll excuse me, there's something I need to do and a promise I need to keep."

The family watched Jeremy leave before falling back into contemplative silence. Klaus saw Hope painting in the garden and left to attempt talking to her. The rest of the family watched for a few moments before dispersing.

* * *

**New Orleans-Two Days Later**

Marcel was pacing his apartment, waiting for Vincent to arrive. He’d called the witch earlier that morning when Sofiya’s wound hadn’t healed. Something about her injury seemed mystical, and what was the point in being king of the city if he couldn’t get answers when he wanted them? He was about to storm out and drag Vincent back to his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it and found an annoyed Vincent standing there.

“It’s about time.”

“I’m sorry, missing children are more important to me than your girlfriend. Why am I here?”

Marcel took a deep breath to calm himself and replied. “Come in. it’ll be easier to show you.” The two men walked into the apartment and upstairs to Marcel’s bedroom. Sofiya was asleep on the bed with a strange looking injury on her shoulder. “She was stabbed with…. something, and the wound hasn’t healed.”

Vincent bent down to look at it and looked back at Marcel. “Does she know what she was stabbed with? Or who stabbed her?”

“She said it was a knife.”

“Did it knock her out as well?”

Marcel chuckled. “No, she’s just sleeping. Should I wake her up?”

“Well, I’d rather perform any spells on her when she’s awake than risk her waking up mid-spell.”

Vincent went downstairs while Marcel woke Sofiya up. As she made her way downstairs, she seemed to be groggy and a little weak, which was surprising to everyone. “So what’s wrong with me?”

“I’m not exactly sure. What happened?”

“Kol came into the cemetery to rescue Rebekah, and I left. On my way out, I ran into this werewolf who tried to pick a fight. She threw this knife at me, I pulled it out. She then said something vague about how she was already dead and didn’t need to kill me. Then she walked away.”

“What did it look like?”

“It looked like a ceremonial dagger you’d use. I didn’t exactly take it with me.”

“Do you know what’s wrong with her or not?”

“Give me a second.” Vincent said before rubbing his hands together and murmuring in French He continued speaking as he held both hands above the wound. Both vampires watched in anticipation as Vincent worked. After a few moments, Vincent dropped his arm and sighed.

“This magic is different from anything I’ve come across. I don’t know how to reverse it.” He then looked at Marcel. “If the wolf who stabbed her claimed to be dead-“

“It might be the so-called devil. So what? I go looking for one woman I don’t know in a town full of people?”

“Well, there’s someone you do know. The vampire who stopped the bell. He can't be that hard to find.”

* * *

**Lafayette Cemetery**

Jeremy walked down the rows of Lafayette cemetery looking for the right tombstone. “I thought your sister was the one who hung out in graveyards.” A voice said from behind him.

Jeremy turned and gave Damon a look. “She went there to think, I went there to get high. It must be a Gilbert thing.”

“Must be. Did you find it yet?”

“No, not yet. There’s a lot of people buried here and I couldn’t tell just anyone who’s grave I’m looking for. Did you find the knife?”

Damon smirked and held it up. “Jules was more than happy to tell me where she hid it. She didn’t even clean it.”

“Give it to me. We need it.” Jeremy took the blade out of Damon’s hand and walked away just as a few vampires found Damon and insisted he go talk to Marcel.

* * *

**Safe House**

The Mikaelsons sat anxiously around the house. Jeremy said they had ‘a few days’ before the devil herself came to talk to them, but that wasn’t exactly a precise window of time. Everyday, they’d left one person to stand guard on the porch of the house in case another familiar face showed up. It had been three days since the younger Gilbert left. Shortly after eleven in the morning, Klaus’ cell beeped with a text message.

>> **FROM UNKNOWN: Get everyone inside. You’re going to have visitors soon.**

Klaus relayed the information to his family, who cautiously made their way into the living room and stared anxiously out of the window. Sage, who had arrived at the safehouse with Finn the day before, was upstairs keeping Hope busy and distracted. Everyone held their breath as they heard two cars drive up and whoever was in them wordlessly exit the vehicles and walk up the steps. Even with their vampiric hearing, they jumped when they heard a knock at the door. Elijah was the closest, and stood to answer the door. Everyone let out a collective sigh when the door opened and Matt Donovan stood there with Bonnie and Stefan visible behind him.

“Hello Mr. Donovan.”

“Hey. I don’t suppose we could have this conversation inside?”

Elijah nodded and stepped out of the way. The three people standing in the doorway entered, followed by Valerie, Jeremy, and Alaric who was holding hands with a little brunette girl who looked to be about five. A second later, a little blonde girl around the same age came sprinting in, followed by a smiling Caroline.

Caroline bent down so that she was eye-level with the girl. “What have I told you about running?”

“Not to do it inside.” The little girl said not looking up.

Sage had walked downstairs when she heard the door open and spoke. “Come on, Lizzie, Josie. Let’s go upstairs and leave the grownups to talk.” Both girls smiled and ran upstairs.

Klaus found himself speechless. He didn’t think it was possible, but Caroline had grown even more beautiful and full of light since he last saw her. His memories and the fake-Caroline he saw during that hallucination, didn’t do her justice. He’d forgotten how awestruck seeing the sunlight bounce off her golden curls made him feel. He’d forgotten how her eyes lit up when she laughed at something.

Caroline stood up and faced the rest of the room. She caught Klaus’s eye and the hybrid started to speak. “Caroline, love, it’s good to-“

“What happened to you?” she blurted out.

“I was impri-“

“Not that, genius. I knew about that. I’m talking about this.” She said gesturing to all of him. “Did you go through a midlife crisis or get a personality transplant or something?” Everyone else looked between the pair shocked. “I mean, your hair looks ridiculous like this and I can’t believe you’re wearing that,” she said pointing to his shirt.

“Caroline, what are you talking about?” Bonnie asked.

“He’s Klaus but he doesn’t look or act like Klaus. Don't tell me I'm the only one who sees it!” Caroline said, throwing her arms up in the air.

“Did you really help free my family just to critique my brother’s appearance?” Freya asked, not understanding the look Klaus was giving the blonde.

“No. But it did help diffuse the tension.” The blonde admitted smiling before turning back to Klaus. “Pod person attributes aside, it's nice to see you.”

Klaus nodded speechless and everyone stood silent for a moment. Finally, Elijah spoke. “May I ask-“

“Which one of us is the devil?” Bonnie said.

“Why did we help free you?” Caroline said

“What do we need your brother for?” Matt said.

“Why did we bring Finn back?” Alaric said.

Elijah blinked for a moment. “All of those questions, yes. But I was going to ease into that. I was asking whose children just ran upstairs.”

“Oh.” Caroline said surprised. “It’s a long story, but they’re mine and Alaric’s.”

“I see.” He said nodding.

“Why did you help us?” Freya asked.

“Well, seven of us did it because the eighth told us too.” Jeremy admitted shrugging.

“Why would she do that?”

“Many reasons.” Caroline answered. “Something big is coming and your family are the ideal people to help fight it.”

“Why are we ideal?” Kol asked, snorting.

“Among other things? You’re six of the strongest beings alive, which is why Finn is back. None of you want to die and the devil already owns most of your souls.” Stefan answered.

“Plus, Klaus does owe one of us a favor.”

“Speaking of souls, when are you going to let Davina go?” Kol asked.

“We can’t.” Caroline answered. “At least, not yet.”

“Why not?” Kol pushed.

Alaric sighed and began speaking. “There are a few ways someone gets sent to Hell. They either are unable to find peace because of unfinished business, like Matt’s sister Vicki or they cause so much pain and suffering on Earth that they need to be punished the next life, like Silas, Katherine, etc. But people can get out of Hell permanently.”

“How?”

“A few ways.” He answered. “Those with unfinished business resolve it. Someone alive but bound for Hell could commit some great self-sacrifice to cleanse their soul. The last way is basically good behavior. Prove to the devil you don’t deserve to suffer in Hell forever.”

“So give Davina a test to prove herself and let her move on!” Kol practically shouted.

“She’s a special case. Davina’s the exception, not the rule. Her soul was torn in two. She won’t be able to find peace until it's intact. Besides, I would have thought you liked having her back.” Bonnie answered.

“Not if her death sends her back to Hell.”

“If she was sent to Hell again, we’d just let her back out. I think we can all agree, Davina doesn’t deserve to be in Hell. Even Damon, who doesn’t like anyone, likes her.”

“Where is Damon, may I ask?” Elijah asked.

“Running an errand.” Valerie said cryptically.

* * *

**NEW ORLEANS**

Damon grunted as he was dropped on the floor of Marcel’s penthouse. He got up and brushed imaginary dirt off his jacket. “Let me guess, something weird happened that your witchy buddy over there can’t explain.”

Marcel sighed and crossed his arms. “Let’s pretend I believe the ‘devil is real and is here’ story you and a few others have told me.”

“You mean the truth? Sure, let’s pretend that.” Damon snarked back. “Even if the devil wasn’t someone I’ve known for a while, I still have an explanation for how my ex, whose death I actively celebrated, is somehow alive, walking around and ruining my day.” There was no love lost between Damon and Katherine. “How else do you explain your buddy coming back from the dead and then being destroyed with Hellfire?”

Marcel was about to reply when some occurred to him. “You weren’t there when that happened. How do you know about it?”

“I told you. The devil and I go way back.” Damon said vaguely. “Now, why am I here?”

“One of my vampires was attacked and she’s not healing. My ‘witchy friend’ as you put it, doesn’t recognize the magic and can’t explain it.”

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine. Let me see the victim.” Marcel looked ready to deny him when Damon continued. “I can’t give a solution if I don’t know what the problem is.”

Marcel nodded begrudgingly before leading Damon upstairs. Vincent guessed he and Marcel were finished and left. Marcel opened the door to his bedroom where Sofiya was reading a book. Damon walked over to the woman and pulled up one of her sleeves.

He snorted before turning back to Marcel. “Wow. Someone really hates you.”

“You know what’s happening to her?” Marcel asked.

“No, but I know what caused that.”

“Then tell us how to fix it!” Sofiya said, yelling.

“You can’t fix it, you have to undo it. There’s only one person who can.”

“Who?”

“The devil, but she hates you. She’s never even met you, and she hates you. Then again, it’s not surprising. She did resurrect your friend just to destroy him in front of you. You don’t know it yet, but you brought this upon yourself.“

“She?”

“Yeah. Devil’s a woman, and she’s hot, objectively speaking. She went to high school with my brother. We even made out a few times. Although, she wasn’t Satan at the time. Anyway, she can be a real bitch when she wants to be.”

“Wait. You said I haven’t met her. Why would she hate me this much?”

“Does she even need a reason to? I mean, she’s the devil. But assuming she needed one, let’s see. Your actions almost got people very important to her killed. You are in the way of her plans. Oh, and then there’s the Mikaelson matter.”

“The Mikaelson matter?” Marcel asked. “I beat the family that tore this town apart. I brought down the Mikaelsons! I put Klaus down and I kept him down. I-“

“Pissed off the most powerful being on earth in the process.” Damon finished for him. “I told you what I know. Whether you believe me or not is your problem. Bye.” He walked out of the room and down the loft stairs, waiting for Marcel to chase after him.

“Wait.” Marcel’s voice called and Damon smirked. People were so predictable. “How do I contact her? I mean, she wouldn’t order Sofiya’s attack and then just walk away.”

“That’s actually something she might do.” Damon responded. Messing with the ‘King of New Orleans’ was fun so far. “But you might be able to talk with some people who can give you better answers or convince her.”

“How?”

“That’s up to you. You have to decide how much you’re willing to….concede in order to help your girlfriend. When you meet their price, they’ll find you.” Damon said and walked out the door.

* * *

**Safe House**

“All right. Enough of this cryptic bullshit. What do you want from Klaus and which one of you is the devil?” Hayley said, getting annoyed at receiving non-answers and half-truths.

“Well, that’s between me and him, isn’t it?” one of the women said.

Five of the Mikaelsons and Hayley all turned to look at her. Finally Rebekah spoke.

“You…you’re…you’re the-“ she stuttered out.

“Yup, I’m the devil. I bet you didn’t see that coming.” Caroline said, smiling.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caroline explains a few things to the Mikaelsons and starts putting her other plans into motion.

“I’m the devil. I bet you didn’t see that coming.” Caroline said smiling. It was kind of funny that she was now in charge of Hell.

Kol and Rebekah looked at her in disbelief, Klaus looked concerned, Freya gave her a calculating look and Elijah looked intrigued. Hayley, given her past with Caroline, rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath.

“Forgive my skepticism Miss Forbes but-“

“Let me guess, you’d like proof of my claim?” She asked.

Elijah nodded, along with Freya and Kol. Klaus was still speechless. “Could I trouble you for some coffee please?” She asked the Mikaelsons. Klaus left the room and came back moments later with a mug. Caroline turned to the others who came with her. “Could you give us a minute?” Bonnie nodded and ushered the others out.

After Matt closed the front door behind him, Caroline turned back to look at the Mikaelsons. She stood with a pensive look on her face before reaching out and grabbing Elijah’s arm. Everyone stilled and looked concerned once Elijah began screaming. Ten to fifteen seconds later, Caroline let go of his arm.

“Wa….was that….was I –“

“In Hell? Yeah, but only in your mind. It was more of an imprint of Hell. There’s also this.” Caroline said before ripping her heart out without preamble. She dropped it onto the floor as everyone sat shocked. “I could continue but I think this was traumatizing enough.”

“Sorry to be a stickler but that doesn’t prove you’re the devil. It proves you have psychic abilities and are some type of immortal.” Kol said speaking up.

“Fine.” Caroline rolled her eyes before turning towards the doorway. “Get in here.” The others turned to see whom she was talking to. “I believe you’ve met my friend here.”

“You could say that.” Klaus said, glaring at the man in question.

“He is obviously dead. A number of you watched him die, yes?” Klaus, Freya and two others nodded. “He was sent to my domain afterwards. It is true; a rare few others do have the two previous abilities I showed. But only the devil can do this.”

Caroline waved her hand towards the man as she took a sip of her coffee. Flames engulfed him. By the time she put the mug back down, Lucien Castel’s body had been completely destroyed by Hellfire. The Mikaelsons looked at her in awe. “Is he gone forever now?” Rebekah asked.

“No. I just sent his soul back to hell to be tortured for the rest of eternity.” Caroline admitted before raising her voice. “You can come back in now.”

The rest of the visitors from Mystic Falls filed back into the house.

“I apologize for questioning the validity of your claims, Miss Forbes.”

“Please, Elijah. Call me Caroline. And I don’t blame you. I didn’t believe it at first either. I mean, who would’ve guessed that killing the devil would make me the devil?”

“Question still stands, why did you help us?” Rebekah asked. “Your relationship with Nik alone isn’t enough to justify all the trouble you went to.”

“I told you, you’re powerful beings, meaning you are important pieces that I didn’t want off the board just yet.”

“Yeah, but if we died, you could’ve just brought us back since most of our souls belong to you.” Kol reasoned. “That can’t be the only reason.”

“It’s not. I never said it was. “ Caroline answered. “I did it to knock Marcel down a few pegs. I did it because I have no interest in either of the two remaining sirelines dying. I did it because I could. I’m the most powerful being in existence. So when I looked around and decided what I wanted was your family free and awake, there was in actuality nothing that could stop me.” she then took a breath and turned to look at Elijah. “Besides, I agree with what you said to Marcel the other day.” Elijah looked at her confused so she felt the need to elaborate. “Sorry, I’m not omnipotent, but when I focus on certain people I can see what’s happening around them. Obviously, I wanted to make sure all of you got out of New Orleans safely, so I saw your fight with Marcel before Qetsiyah stepped in.”

“Wait? That was Qetsiyah?” Hayley asked.

“She prefers Tessa, but yes.” Caroline answered before starting to feel nervous. “Now, not to be rude, but I need to talk to your brother alone.”

Caroline and Klaus walked through the garden, each unsure of what to say. Klaus was still struggling to comprehend Caroline being the ruler of Hell and Caroline didn’t know how to begin the awkward conversation that was about to follow. When Caroline saw a patch of pretty flowers, she came up with a funny, and appropriate, icebreaker.

“Do you know what I wanted to be when I was a kid? I wanted to be Persephone. You know, on the one hand she’s the goddess of spring and loves flowers but on the other, she’s the Queen of Hell and was terrifying. I guess I liked the contrast even when I was a kid.”

“Didn’t Hades kidnap Persephone and force her to be the Queen of Hell?”

“There are different versions of the myth. Some say he kidnapped her but she ate the pomegranate seeds willingly. Others say he tricked her. But there’s a third version.”

“Oh really? Do tell.” Klaus had heard the myth several times but wanted to know where Caroline was headed with this.

“In one version, Hades isn’t involved as much. Persephone finds the entrance to the Underworld and decides to check it out. She likes the Underworld so much she decides to stay and Hades is just as perplexed as everyone else. Then her mother and Zeus got involved and the rest of the myth is pretty universal. Anyway, that was my favorite myth growing up, the flowery Queen of death.”

“And now you’re the perky blonde ruler of Hell. I have to admit, when I heard there was a new devil, I never would have thought it was you. You’re too-“

“Full of light? Yeah, it surprised Vicki too. Then I realized Cade was dark and sadistic because of what happened to him, not because he was the devil. I realized I could maybe do some good, even if I’m supposed to be bad. I mean, there are quite a few people in Hell that don't deserve to be there.”

“I don’t think you could ever be evil, love.” Klaus said. “You barely have it in you to be selfish.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly tell you the main reason I helped your family.” Caroline said, looking sheepish. “I couldn’t exactly leave my last love rotting in a dungeon. And if you died, there was no way I was going to give you back.”

“Sweetheart, did you-“

“You rescued me from Alaric and the dead witches. It was my turn to save you.”

Klaus looked at Caroline for a moment before closing the distance between them. He grabbed her face and pulled it close to his, kissing her. Several minutes later, they broke for air. “Caroline, love, you are amazing.”

“I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?” Caroline said smiling.

“I don’t want to ruin the moment, but I owe you a favor. I’m many things, including a man who pays his debts.”

“You do, but we don’t need to talk about that now.” Caroline spent the next hour giving Klaus the cliff notes version of how she became the devil and a few other things, like how Stefan became human and Elena woke up.

After Caroline and Klaus left, the rest of the group began talking. No one really knew what to say about Caroline taking over Hell so they stuck to small talk and catching up with one another. Nearly an hour passed before the mystery was too much for Rebekah. “Do you know what Caroline needs from Nik?” she asked Stefan.

“No, she’s been quite tight-lipped on the matter. I know she intends to use all your blood for something, but from Klaus she needs something else.”

Rebekah was going to ask another question when Kol interrupted forcefully “The blonde devil is your girlfriend right?”

“Ex-fiancé.”

“Whatever. What does she want from Davina?”

“Probably nothing. Knowing Caroline, she’ll find a way to reunite Davina’s soul then give her an easy task to ‘cleanse it’ like making a flower bloom or something.“ Stefan answered truthfully. “All she’s waiting on is a way to put Davina’s soul back together.”

“How would she do that?” Davina asked from the doorway. Most of the council made her nervous, except Bonnie, and surprisingly, Caroline. They made her feel safe for some reason.

“I’m not sure.” Stefan said.

“I wanted to talk to you about that.” Jeremy said. “There’s something I need to ask you and Kol.”

“What is it mate?”

Jeremy sat looking awkward as he tried to find the best way to ask his question. “I don’t know how to ask this, so I’m sorry if it sounds blunt. Where is Davina buried?”

“Lafayette cemetery. “

“I know that, I spent two days searching for it. Where in the cemetery though?”

“Why?”

Jeremy was about to answer when Alaric’s phone beeped. The former teacher pulled it from his pocket, read briefly before turning to the others. “That was Damon. Someone needs to grab Caroline.”

“No need, Ric.” Caroline said walking into the house followed by Klaus. “What’s up?”

“I just heard from Damon. She’s starting to be affected and he’s beginning to panic.”

“Good.” Caroline said deviously. “What exactly did he tell him?”

“Basically, if he wants to undo it, he’ll need to make some concessions.”

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Rebekah asked.

“I’m a neurotic control freak, and Katherine helped me plan this. Do you really think I’d break Klaus out or wake any of you up without having a plan in case Marcel tried to retaliate?”


End file.
